Badger, Tom: Accomack County

Accomack County's history revolves around two elements: the land and the sea. The land is fertile, capable of producing great bounty, and Accomack is surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. So Accomack has enjoyed two advantages: an ability to produce food and the means of getting it to market. Public wharves were once located on many creeks where farmers would bring crops for market. Then, in 1884, the railroad came through. The railroad created new towns--Parksley, Onley, Keller, Tasley, and Painter--and it meant the demise of the numerous public wharves. Today most of these old gathering places exist only as names on a map and perhaps a collection of twisted pilings at the water's edge, the last tangible evidence of a time in our history long past.